August 28, 2021 Russia Turns Thirty Thirty years ago this week, Russia became an independent country... again. History Military Moscow News Russia File
August 26, 2021 Little Wanderers, Watery Kasha, and Flower Bouquets In this week's Odder News, kids expect glamping and instead get camping, a missing baby is found after days of wandering, and a bouquet of flowers drives the internet wild. Animals Children News Odder News
August 17, 2021 Wild Weather and Wildfires Subarctic summer Siberia is hosting snow and wildfires at the same time. Environment Geography News Regions Russia File
August 14, 2021 Not-Russia's Final Medal Tally Not-Russia took home more Olympic medals than it thought it would, placing third in the overall medal count race. Int'l Relations News Sports Russia File
July 17, 2021 Russians Play Crucial Role in NHL Championship The Tampa Bay Lightning just won the NHL championship, and there were definitely Russians involved. News Russians Abroad Sports Russia File
April 28, 2021 Russia's Days Off “Russian means rested." – Twitter user @zhenya_indigo appreciated a surprise long holiday for the first ten days of May in the Russian Federation. Earlier in the week, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the request of Anna Popova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, when she proposed consecutive days of holiday for Russia’s citizens. In addition to Labor Day on May 1 and Victory Day on May 9, the population will have the fourth through the seventh to rest. “If you think that it is necessary, well, we will do so,” Putin said in response to the proposal. History Holidays News Quote
March 19, 2021 Coming Up Roses After one year of pandemic, Russia's economy is looking dandy while others are on the verge of collapse. Or so says new research. Economy Int'l Relations News Russia File
March 04, 2021 Poisonous Furniture, Rugs, and Rail Carts In this week's Odder News, report yourself to the police for easy snow removal, watch out for poison in your sofa, and don't forget to wipe your feet on the rug on the way in. Int'l Relations News Transportation Odder News
March 01, 2021 News Notes News and readings of note from all around Russia. Cities & Towns Culture News
February 08, 2021 Christopher Plummer's Last Station In memory of actor Christopher Plummer, who died last week at age 91, we look back at his role as a dying Leo Tolstoy in the 2009 film, The Last Station. Biographies Film & TV News Russia File
February 04, 2021 Sports, Sleep, and the State Duma This week's Odder News features Russian athletes making international news, low-tax sports gear, and more opportunity for restful shut-eye. Government News Sports Odder News
January 25, 2021 It's a Dog's Life (in Russia) Icy winter waters were no threat to a talented reporter who dove in to save a puppy from the cold. Animals News Regions Russia File
February 28, 2022 to February 23, 2032 Free Russian Language Guided Tours Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY Russian-speaking guides conduct tours of the museum's highlights every Monday at 11 am. Art Exhibit
February 22, 2022 to February 22, 2032 Russian-Language Gallery Tour Brooklyn Museum | Brooklyn, NY Russian-language tour exploring our collection in depth, second Sunday of each month at 1 pm. Free, reservations required Art Exhibit
Marooned in Moscow This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Resilience ~ The Russian Version (Переживем) Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history.
Survival Russian Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Russia Rules From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Fish: A History of One Migration This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Resilience: Life Stories of Centenarians Born in the Year of Revolution Call it resilience, grit, or just perseverance – it takes a special sort of person to have survived the last 100 years of Russian and Soviet history.
Steppe / Степь This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
A Taste of Chekhov This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Moscow and Muscovites Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin.
Red Star Tales: A Century of Russian and Soviet Science Fiction For over 100 years, most of the science fiction produced by the world’s largest country has been beyond the reach of Western readers. This new collection changes that, bringing a large body of influential works into the English orbit.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
March 14, 2020 Coronavirus Coping: Russian Lit has the Answers Russian literature has an answer for everything. In the times of coronovirus, this is your guide. Art Literature CVSG Russia File
February 20, 2014 Russian Genealogy A comprehensive listing of resources, online and off, for researching your Russian roots, courtesy of Ginny Audet. History Reference Russia File
January 10, 2014 Why Don't Russians Smile? It is a common trope that Russians never smile. Which of course is interpreted to mean they are unfriendly, gloomy, sullen – positively Dostoyevskian. This, of course, is a complete misreading of body language and cultural norms. Culture Humor Language Russia File
September 07, 2021 Using Laughter to Cope These eight outstanding Soviet comedies show some of what has made Russians laugh over the past century. Most are still watched today. (First in our new series on learning about Russia through its films.) Culture Through Film Russia File
May 31, 2020 Inside Brighton Beach's Babushka Beauty Pageant A lovely short film on Brighton Beach's Your Highness Babushka Beauty Contest. Culture Pop Culture Russians Abroad Women Video of the Week Russia File
October 31, 2016 Why Stalin's Corpse Was Exhumed on Halloween The body of Joseph Stalin was removed from the mausoleum on Red Square on October 31, 1961. It may not be as spooky as Halloween, but the former leader still haunts Russia today. History Politics Social Issues Russia File